Share this on:

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

October 29 is National Oatmeal Day.

Cosmetic company Aveeno is named after Avena, which is the botanical name for oats. That’s because oats have an anti-itch and anti-inflammatory compound in them that is widely used in cosmetics.

Oats are also used as a stabilizer in some dairy products. See, we’re not talking about any old whole grain here! Besides being one of the most popular breakfast foods in America, oats have been proven to help lower bad cholesterol and even reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Oats also keep you fuller for longer, so you’re more likely to maintain a healthy weight.
Most people who eat oats do so for breakfast, according to the Whole Grains Council. These oats have typically been steamed and flattened, producing rolled oats or old-fashioned oats. Generally, the more flattened the oats are, the quicker they cook. Steel-cut oats take longer to cook than regular or quick cooking oats but have a different texture. The whole oat kernel is cut into smaller pieces.

Oats certainly don’t have to be limited to the first meal of the day. Aside from the ever delicious oatmeal cookie, they can also be used in place of breadcrumbs for oven-fried chicken and as a thickening agent in meatballs or meatloaf. Oats can also be ground down in a food processor to make oat flour. Pretty neat for a grain that was once considered a weed and burned.